The invention relates to a recording medium with colored image information, including but not limited to an identification card or credit card, debit card, phone card etc. Recording media of this type are widely used as, among other things, government identification cards, passports, transit passes, bank cards and credit cards. When such recording media are personalized, the personalization process includes the recording of the individual data, which can include but is not limited to personal data that relate specifically to the owner. An essential part of the personalization is the application of colored image information in the form of a photograph of the person to be identified.
There are numerous possible ways to apply colored images to recording media. The methods disclosed in the prior art include transfer processes in which inks are transferred to the medium from ink media by thermal sublimation or thermal diffusion. The prior art also discloses the application of colored image information using ink-jet devices, thermal printing or color laser printing.
To make such colored image information very difficult to counterfeit, the prior art discloses methods to transfer a colored image to the medium so that the colors diffuse into the plastic medium and are thus difficult to remove. DE 4134539 also discloses the division of the image information into at least two information parts. In this case, one part is a color part and the other part is a black and white part.
Identification cards with a colored image portion have also been disclosed in DE 4134539 and DE 4417343.